The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) in collaboration with the Council on Exceptional Children (CEC) is organizing and hosting a focused working conference on Response to Intervention (RtI) and related strategies in teaching and assessment in Mathematics. The ultimate goals of this work are: To build a core community of researchers and practitioners from mathematics education and special education to identify, expand and sustain the research needs in this critical area; to identify and improve the research available related to teaching mathematics within a Response to Intervention model; and to develop professional development resources to support teachers's (pre-service and in-service) understanding and application of research-based RtI strategies in mathematics.
Expected outcomes include: a preliminary analysis of needed research studies; a synthesis of both mathematics education research and special education research around a key question of interest; and examples of content for inclusion in professional development and pre-service teacher education. Results will be disseminated through NCTM and CEC print, web, and conference facilities.
RtI in Mathematics: Collaborating to Make a Difference, a collaborative project between the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC), brought together teams of educators and researchers from mathematics education and special education as a catalyst to encourage research and professional development opportunities focused on teaching mathematics to students with disabilities. With goals to build a core community of researchers and practitioners from mathematics education and special education to identify, expand, integrate and sustain the research needs in this critical area; identify and improve the research available related to teaching mathematics within a multi-tiered system of support such as a Response to Intervention model; and to develop professional development resources to support teachers’ understanding and application of research-based RtI strategies in classroom mathematics instruction, RtI in Mathematics: Collaborating to Make a Difference brought together 45 individuals from higher education, K-12 education, and local/state governments; in project teams consisting of at least one mathematics education representative and one special education representative. Over the course of two two-day symposiums the teams worked to build common understandings of the perspectives, strategies and resources that informed their work in professional development, teacher education, and research related to supporting students with high needs in learning mathematics. This work included expert insights shared by speakers outside of the teams as well as cross-team collaborations and presentations which set the stage for increased connections and collaborations across teams and disciplinary areas. The RtI in Mathematics: Collaborating to Make a Difference project has resulted in significant new activities at the intersection of mathematics education and special education including coherent strands of presentations at national conferences for mathematics teachers, special educators, and special education teacher educators; new research proposals to IES; broader dissemination of related professional development materials; and new publications targeting the research and professional development work of the collaborative teams. RtI in Mathematics: Collaborating to Make a Difference was envisioned as catalyst to bring two groups together, mathematics education and special education to meet jointly held goals in integrated ways, and the actions from this collaboration are taking hold and growing.
